PARTNER PROVIDED CONTENT: https://eparcel.co.za
Shipping Basics to Uphold Customer Satisfaction
Whether shipping to a business or consumer, the shipping process for your product is a critical area towards achieving customer satisfaction that cannot be overlooked. No matter how great a product is or how much you might be able to meet customer needs, if there are problems in the shipping process, you risk tanking the customer satisfaction levels. Everybody has had the experience of a delayed, damaged, or even lost shipment. No amount of customer service after the fact will be able to wipe that negative impression away. So as you grow your business and continue shipping out to customers, whether you’re just starting or you’re a large enterprise with entire warehouses, a key to strengthening customer satisfaction is through some of the following essential shipping basics:
Robustness of Packaging
Of course, the first step must be the proper packaging of any shipment that’s going out. If you don’t include the right type of void fill, cushioning, or padding that will protect the product during the shipment process, you risk a customer being delivered a damaged, non-functional, or utterly broken product. The exact type of packaging material and strategy you need depends on the individual parcel and its laid-out shipment process (e.g., you might even need secure temperature packaging for food products). But these aspects are not areas to short change and try to save a few bucks. The damage that will arise to customer satisfaction from failed packaging materials will outweigh everything else you do.
Tracking of Shipments
Another critical area to remember is to track where each package is at all times, both so you can be secure in knowing where on the packaging journey it is, and so the customer can stay informed. Many products, particularly those ordered by businesses, will be needed on a specific schedule. Anxious customers will want to be able to track and see where in the process their order is. Keeping that information available and handy will ensure you can stay on top of any inefficient or troubling shipment logistics needing to be reworked.
On-Time Delivery
Hand-in-hand with tracking of shipments goes the on-time delivery. Even if a product arrives in perfect condition, being even one day late could throw the customer’s plans out the window. A good adage is to under-promise and over-deliver when it comes to shipment times, so customer satisfaction remains positive when delays beyond your control arise.
Available Customer Service
When any of the above or other logistics associated with shipping basics fails, it’s critical to have ready an accessible customer service plan for customers. Whether they want to ask questions, escalate an issue to be resolved, or get help from a person at the company, these customer service offerings can be thought of as the last defense line in securing customer satisfaction as best as possible.
If you don’t know where to start with these and any other shipping basics, consider getting in touch with us at eParcel, where retaining customer satisfaction throughout the shipping and courier processes is our specialty. Reach out to us today to hear how we can help.
